BASKETBALL; Prospect Strives to Surpass His Name

By IRA BERKOW

Published: November 8, 2006

The first thought, when people hear his name around a basketball court, is, well, maybe he can preach, but can he play?

''I'd get that kind of thing all the time,'' Mustapha Farrakhan Jr. said. ''It's one thing to have the name. It's another thing to establish yourself as a player.''

Mustapha -- unlike his grandfather Louis, the Nation of Islam leader -- is no preacher, and he is indeed a basketball player. Having just turned 18, and standing a lithe 6 feet 3 3/4 inches, he is good enough at either of the guard positions and at small forward to be recruited by a number of Division I programs, like Oregon in the Pac-10, Illinois and Penn State in the Big Ten, Vanderbilt in the Southeastern Conference and Virginia in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Mustapha is a senior at Thornton Township High School in this southern suburb of Chicago. In a neat white shirt pulled out of his jeans, he sat Friday afternoon in the office of the school's basketball coach. Seated nearby was his father, Mustapha Farrakhan Sr., a Harvey police officer and supreme captain in the Nation of Islam. The two were soon to leave for a trip downstate to visit the University of Illinois and its basketball coach, Bruce Weber.

Mustapha -- called Li'l Mu in contrast to his father, Big Mu -- led his team to a 20-8 record last season and a tie for first place in a tough conference. He averaged 17.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists a game on his way to becoming a first team all-area selection. Yet he remained under the radar.

Perhaps it was the family name. Perhaps it was his relatively thin frame -- 165 pounds, before gaining 12 pounds with a weight-training regimen.

All of that seemed to change over the summer, when he competed in a prestigious Nike camp for top high school players in Indianapolis. ''I just tried to stay calm, tried to stay in character and not turn the ball over,'' he recalled.

In the camp's all-star game, he said, he scored 8 points off ''back-to-back 3's and a nice tip dunk.''

While he was playing, and while he was walking around away from the court, a man appeared to be closely eyeing him.

''It's not a bodyguard,'' Mustapha Sr. said. ''It's, well, a watcher. I mean, when you go out of your comfort zone, when you go to an unfamiliar area, you want to feel secure. So we brought along someone who would stay close to Mu, to watch his well-being. I'm used to it. That's one of the jobs I've had for my father.''

Louis Farrakhan has gone to three of his grandson's basketball games, Mustapha Jr. said.

''Everybody knows when he comes into the gym,'' he said. ''He's with about 30 people, and they take up a whole section in the stands.''

Mustapha Sr. said that before his father shows up for a game, or anywhere else, he has to provide a safe passage, which includes bodyguards and an advance team.

What has preceded all this, much of it before Mustapha Jr. was born, is the violence and antiwhite and anti-Semitic sentiments sometimes attributed to Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam. Louis Farrakhan took over as spokesman for the Nation of Islam after Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965. In the past, Farrakhan has described Hitler as ''wickedly great'' and Judaism as ''a dirty religion.''

Louis Farrakhan, 73, has been battling ''serious pain and infection'' in recent months, according to a letter posted at finalcall.com, a publication for the Nation of Islam. He said he began experiencing pain earlier this year similar to what he felt in 1998 and 1999, when he was found to have prostate cancer and had surgery.

Mustapha Sr. said his father would not grant an interview for this article, but he said past comments had been distorted.

''He didn't say Hitler was a good man, he said he was wickedly great, and that makes a huge difference,'' he said. ''And he never thought Judaism was a gutter religion. That was unfairly tagged on him. I grew up never being taught anti-Semitism, and neither has my son. As for the so-called burden of all this on my son, I don't see it, really. And if any school hasn't recruited him because of his grandfather, I haven't sensed that, either.''

Troy Jackson, Thornton's head basketball coach, said Mustapha Jr. is an unassuming and well-mannered honor student.

''He's just Mu, but special, too, in that he's a good student and popular,'' Jackson said. ''Like the team just gravitated to naming him captain. No vote was needed.''

When the team huddles and says the Lord's Prayer, Mustapha Jr. prays to Allah silently. He says he lives by certain codes that his father has taught him: ''The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement'' and the ''Five P's -- Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance.''

And so, he says, he studies old television footage of model players like Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Pete Maravich. When Mustapha Jr. attended Michael Jordan's camp last summer, he said Jordan told him to ''move without the ball, make efficient moves'' when playing against a heavier man. ''These are things I have to soak in,'' he said.

While he says he avoids political discussions about his grandfather, he has learned from him.

''We lived with him for two years, a few years ago, when our house burned down,'' he said. ''And every morning at 5 o'clock I'd hear him practicing the violin.''

Louis Farrakhan has been a lifelong devotee of the violin, having been trained on the instrument since he was 6 years old. ''He'd attack the violin every day,'' Mustapha Jr. said. ''I'd see his teacher come, and they'd practice one note for hours and hours until he gets it right. He really gets down on it. I want to attack basketball the way my grandpa attacks the violin.''

He says his grandfather has been encouraging. ''He tells me he's very proud of me and says, 'stay positive, praise God,' and that the next time I come over his house he's going to have to dunk on me.''

Photos: Mustapha Farrakhan Jr. during practice at his suburban Chicago high school. Farrakhan's grandfather is the Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. (Photo by Mia Aigotti for The New York Times); Farrakhan has been recruited by several major college programs. At left, his grandfather spoke at the Million Man March in 1995. Louis Farrakhan has seen a few of his grandson's games, but has recently battled a severe illness. (Photo by Mia Aigotti for The New York Times); (Photo by Mike Theiler/Reuters)(pg. D1); Mustapha Farrakhan Jr. (3) during practice. He said his famous grandfather has encouraged him and taught him about dedication and hard work. (Photo by Mia Aigotti for The New York Times)(pg. D5)